A/N: One, Naruto was born centuries before canon into the Clan Wars. Two, the splitting of Juubi is a little different. And three, Terumi and Uzumaki are related. On with the story!
Chapter One - Changes
Naruto opened his eyes as he heard the crow caw for the morning and sat up room his bed. His blonde hair messily jut in all directions from hours asleep and his dark blue eyes looked around. He was sixteen, standing well at five-foot-ten. His walls were a blue with red thorn-like patterns streaked on the wall delicately. Nothing was on the walls and his dressers were a mahogany, though more broke down.
He got dressed in a blue shirt and black pants under a blue-black-red styled sweater and combed his hair back before heading out of his house. He looked down both ends of the street to see no one else yet awake. He shut his door without a sound and walked down the right street to where the Main House was. He heard a few people in their houses moving around in their rooms getting ready for the day. The sun shined onto the small village and the sing-songs from birds signaled the happy morning. The village was made up of just one clan - Terumi.
They lived in a small valley near the coast where they traded their fished goods and what they planted. They planted mostly rice, rosebushes, and miscellaneous herbs for tea or medicine. Terumi had a strong military force for a clan, standing about two hundred strong, multiplied by two by their power and superior training. Terumi had some enemies, but more allies. Most went after the weaker or equal clans but they traded more than fight.
Before, during, and since the rise of Hagoromo, Terumi were prosperous in the economy fields. Most of the clan had chakra-users now but used it to get agricultural chores done faster and to do more for it. But Naruto wasn't one of them.
Naruto was sold to the Terumi clan to settle his father's debt. He was to be used as a servant to work out the money owed to the clan. But the clan head, Tagaromo Terumi, felt pity for how much pain he sensed in Naruto to be traded by his very own father and kept the boy as a 'life-debt'. Since then, Naruto still served as a servant but treated with more of a kind of kinship of the clan.
Naruto's mind drifted off the man who ended the Clan Wars, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. The man who killed the ten-tailed beast and showed the world the unique abilities used by chakra. Though he wasn't born during it, he grew up having the common knowledge of him and everything that happened.
Naruto opened the door into the Main House where the patriarch and matriarch of the clan lived with their children. He walked to the living room where Tagaromo was and knelt to his knees and bowed his head.
Tagaromo was a young looking man but had dulled red hair greying from his years and a long goatee. He wore a black kimono shirt with blue wave designs with a grey hakama. He sat on a cushion in front of a wooden table with a tea set set out on it.
"Sit up." Tagaromo spoke as he took his cup of tea to his lips and sipped on it. He reached the piece of paper to his right and passed it over to Naruto. "I want you to go over to the Fuguki clan and buy one whole roll of their finest silk. I want it from in this specific shop, alright."
Naruto nodded as he took the slip of paper of the additional objects other than silk needed. He stood up and exited the room but stopped when Tagaromo called him. "Be careful. The lands are still in turmoil despite the seeming peace." Tagaromo looked at Naruto's backside. "How's that fools of a sword holding up."
Naruto kept his eyes in front of him as he replied. "Still gets the job needed of it done."
"You know that's not what I asked."
Naruto was silent as he knew exactly what he asked but just didn't want to say it. "It's...breaking. A few more hits and it'll most likely crumble. Literally."
Tagaromo nodded and pulled a katana from his right side and raised it up to where Naruto can grab it without bending down. "Take it."
Naruto looked at the sword. Though the handle was all that was seen, Naruto couldn't see if there was anything special. It was just like any other ordinary sword. But something different resonated in it; something strong. Something different.
Naruto grasped the cloth part wrapped around it and took it from the man's hands. He walked out the door hearing Tagaromo's last words. "Unsheathe it only when you have to."
"Yes, I know." Naruto closed the door into the hallway and saw a beautiful young girl walking to him. She wore an elegant silk dress and a blue obi around her waist with a bowl of fruit in her hands.
"Kitani-sama, how are you doing today?" Naruto asked with a bow to the young girl that smiled at him.
"I am good, Naruto-kun, how are you?" She asked as Naruto stood straight back up.
"It's never bad when you are here, Kitani-sama." Naruto smiled slightly and opened the door to outside. "If I may, I have to get shopping for your father."
"Of course." Kitani smiled, though she was saddened by his leave. She enjoyed his presence from the time he was first part of their clan all those years ago. She was upset all the time by herself when any of her flirts and actions towards him blew past his mind.
She would admit that she had a crush on him but the way of the clan system wouldn't allow it. Especially when he doesn't even have chakra. She sighed and brought the fruit bowl to her mother.
Naruto sighed a breath of relief and walked back to his house not so far away. Once there, he packed a duffle bag of an extra pair of clothes and a sweater, food, and a small notebook. He swung a green cloak over his shoulders and hooked the interlocking chain before his neck as a knocking came from his door.
Naruto walked over and opened it to see Ageha. He had long red hair that was tied up into a ponytail and trailed down behind his knees and part of it covering his right eye, which were a sapphire-blue and his covered eye was an emerald-green color. He wore a brown cloak with a golden button holding it together and it was opened to reveal what he wore.
He had on a black longsleeve shirt under samurai armor and two katana strapped to his left. He had black pants with the bottoms covered with cloth bandages wrapped around it to keep the air out of it. It was helpful and life-saving when on missions in colder climates.
"What is it, Ageha-sama." Naruto asked when Kitani's brother looked at him.
"I need you to bring a carriage of fish to those Hoshigaki's on your way to the Fuguki." He asked with puppy dog eyes. "Please. I want some time to myself after a mission I just went on."
Naruto silently nodded to the boy's request. "Sure."
Ageha hugged the boy, patted on him the back and pushed away. "You're a good guy, Naruto-kun, you know that?"
Naruto smiled. "Go and enjoy yourself, Ageha-sama, and I'll take care of the fish."
"I owe you one Naruto!" Ageha shouted as he ran off away from the house.
Naruto smiled and closed the door behind him with his bag's strap on his right shoulder and the katana strap on the duffle bag. He walked over to the carriage that was set up with a horse and a man held onto its reigns. Naruto walked over and patted the horse on its side as he opened the door into the driver's seat. "I'm delivering the fish in Ageha-sama's place."
The man nodded and handed the reins over to Naruto through the slot on the front. Naruto set his bag and katana onto the seat next to him. The carriage was more of a box with a single slit on the front so the driver could see. In the part where the diver wouldn't be is the fish. Naruto was thankful when he couldn't smell the fish, which was covered in a lot of ice so that it wouldn't rot.
Naruto closed the door and snapped the reins so the horse would start to go.
-X-X-X-
Naruto was glad to have the fish gone as the ice were starting to melt and they were going to start rotting. He smiled at the Fuguki clan guard as he finally made it to the clan village. He opened the door and exited into the streets where the guard met with him. "How are you, Fuguki-san."
"Good, are you of the Terumi clan?" asked the man.
"Yes. Here on errands for Tagaromo-sama." Naruto grabbed his list.
"More silk for the missus?" The man smiled and nodded. "Have a good day."
Naruto nodded and entered the specific shop of silks that Tagaromo wanted them from. He bought the silks from the shop then bought spices and ink from another store. While there, he bought two more notebooks and a few scented candles for himself with his money. Then something sparkled at the corner of his eye that caught his attention.
Naruto turned to see a beautiful necklace on display. He walked over to get a closer look as the shopkeeper bagged his stuff. The necklace string was red and black with a silver dragon attached to it. It looked to have been made of the finest, purest of silvers and be made by the heavens in Naruto's eyes.
"How much is it?" Naruto asked as he gained the shopkeeper's attention.
"30,000 ryo." The man said and strapped the small bag's rope attached to it. He saw Naruto look solemnly into his money bag to he was short a few hundred ryo. The man sighed and took out the necklace, putting it in its own case, and handed it to Naruto. "20,000 ryo."
Naruto looked at the man shocked as he wasn't expecting the man's generosity. The shopkeeper smiled. "It'll be our secret."
Naruto smiled gratefully and handed the man the 20,000 ryo and bowed in thanks. "Thank you so much. So very, very much."
Naruto took the bag of his stuff and exited to the carriage where he happily wrapped a beautiful pink and blue cloth around necklace case. He set it next to his katana and grabbed the reigns before snapping them to get the horse to move.
-X-X-X-
Naruto wiped his eyes as the full moon lit the dirt path he followed back home. He heard an owl hoot and a wolf howl in the wind before his eyes snapped open when the right side of the carriage exploded and flipped over into the ditch on the left side. Naruto's world still spun even when the carriage wasn't moving and shouts were outside of the carriage.
"Get that door opened!" Naruto heard a muffled shout from outside.
Almost immediately the door broke off and Naruto's world began to focus. He felt him being pulled and he shouted in and kicked his legs to try and get the katana in the carriage.
"Hey! This isn't who we're looking for!" A shout came from behind Naruto who pulled his head back. "He doesn't even have red hair!"
"But this is a Terumi carriage!" A man Naruto blurredly saw was moving the dirt off of the side. "It even has its insignia!"
Naruto yelled as he was dragged to his knees by his hair and his head pulled back. He saw a man with one green eye and a blind grey eye stare him in the face. He had black hair and the Dariki clan symbol tattooed under his blind eye. "Yo-you're a Dariki."
"Where's Ageha?!" He shouted and shook Naruto's head from his jaw. "Where?!"
Naruto stayed quiet and stared the man in the face. He snarled and spit in the man's face. "Bite me!"
The man growled and wiped his face of the spit. He punched Naruto with his right fist, which connected hard with Naruto's cheek and made him fall to his right. He spit blood from his cut lip and wiped his mouth. He looked back up at the Dariki and coughed. "Is that the best you can do?"
The Dariki sent another punch and another before getting up and kicking Naruto in the stomach. Naruto coughed up a wad of blood and his drool was stained red and black with blood and his stomach and face were bruised.
"Hey boss, look what I found!" A man shouted from the carriage.
Naruto looked to see one of the Dariki holding the necklace he bought and his katana. His eyes widened.
"There's also a couple rolls of fine silk, ink, and spices." The man yelled gaining the group of four's attention. "This is more than 200,000 ryo put together!"
The half-blind man snapped to Naruto and grabbed him by the neck lifting him high off the ground. "Who are you and what are you doing with this."
Naruto gritted his teeth and grasped the man's meaty hand. "I told you...to bite me!"
Naruto choked on his words, literally. The Dariki's grip tightened his throat and brought his face in front of him. "Tell me what I want or I'll make you suffer as you die."
Tears started to streak down Naruto's face as he realized his vision was blurring only to be able to breathe and struggle once again. 'I don't want to die! Please! Kami, somebody, please save me! I've never asked you of anything before; please help me this once!'
'What would you do to live?' A voice of devoid emotion asked.
'Anything.' Naruto cried as he thought his conscious was talking to him. 'I would do anything! Be anything! All I want is to live and be able tell Kitani what I feel!'
'You have always been selfless for anybody else.' The voice spoke and Naruto felt his mouth hurt and his skull felt as if it was snapping apart from pressure. 'You are a fascination I have never seen before, Naruto. I will grant you a sample of the power you need, but you need to grab that katana for the rest of it.'
Naruto glanced at the katana in the grinning Dariki's hand. He felt immense strength in his arms and he accidentally broke the Dariki man's arm when he swatted it away and dug his elongated nails into the man's flesh. He stabbed his nails into the man's neck before darting for his katana in the shocked man's hands.
"Kill him!" A man yelled worriedly as he ran for Naruto. He went through a few hand signs before letting out a large orb of water.
Naruto made it to the man and grabbed his arms and hid behind him as the water hit. The power the water hit the man made a few limbs break in a weird way. The Dariki screamed before Naruto took the katana and ferociously sunk his teeth in the man's right part of the neck. Naruto felt the neverending hunger in his stomach be satisfied by a few sucks of the man's blood and he loved the tingling feeling he felt although he no longer felt the need.
'I love this feeling!' Naruto licked his lips and his hands shook violently as if on a caffeinated rush. 'I want more!'
Naruto unsheathed his sword before he felt his body shatter immediately and his bones felt like they were all turned into millions of fragments. Despite that, there was no pain, no sadness, only power. He felt an energy enter him and a physical power he ever knew.
'This is a gift to you, Naruto-kun.' The voice said with an evident smile.
'Who are you?' Naruto asked as he charged for the other Dariki.
'I am the one you know as Shinigami and you have fascinated me all your life selflessly helping others. You are now the first bloodsucker of my creation in the mortal world.' Shinigami said starting to sound more and more like a woman. 'Along with this I give you immortality. That is a blessing only Kami or I can give you. I will see you soon.'
Naruto didn't hear the last bit as it faded away and he killed the last guy, exposing his neck. He started sucking the blood of the man although he saw the feet of someone in front of him. Once he felt the blood all gone from the body, he dropped it and looked at the man in front of him.
"My dear boy." The old man spoke shocked. He wore a white robe with black magatama designs and red hair with rippled eyes. He had a shakujo in one hand while the other held two boys hidden behind him.
"Rikudo Sennin…?"
Naruto passed out cold on the ground with a dull thud.
Hope you enjoyed the story. R&R!